The present invention pertains to a long-handled device for personal cleaning and hygiene, and for daily living activities.
The ability to take care of one's own personal cleaning and hygiene is very important for a person with limitations (e.g., overweight, and/or physical problems such as back pain, poor flexibility, lower-functioning body, fore-shortened arms, etc.). It can relieve stress physically, emotionally and mentally and can increase independence, which can be very important to freedom and self-worth. Decreasing one's stress levels can also help in the healing process. Also, the ability to take care of one's own personal cleaning and hygiene provides greater freedom and reduces the expense of nursing care. Contrastingly, the need to have someone to watch over an individual with limitations twenty-four hours a day is extremely difficult and becomes very expensive. Further, the inability to reach hard-to-reach areas can cause much discomfort for a person with limitations. The embarrassment that comes along with the inability to reach those hard-to-reach places can cause much mental and emotional stress.
A variety of personal hygiene tools presently exist. However, present known tools suffer from a variety of problems such as complexity (and resulting high cost), lack of adaptability for “flexible use,” inability to provide freedom and independence to the individual, and can lead to unsanitary conditions including providing poor cleanliness. Known tools do not allow a user to perform multiple tasks. Nor do they fold, collapse, or break down sufficiently for portability, nor for discreet storage and transport. The multiple tasks spoken of here include shaving (women's legs and men's chins), cleaning the rectal area, applying salve to same area, and the ability to grasp a personal hygiene cleaning tool (such as sponge, pad, washcloth or shaver) while in the shower or bath, or while wet after a shower or bath. Though a variety of personal hygiene tools presently exist, no known devices can do multiple tasks, nor are they able to use flushable materials, nor do they fold/collapse down to be a compact portable arrangement that can be carried in a small discreet carry bag.
In particular, known products do not allow a person to use toilet paper, nor a toilet-paper-prefolded product, and then release the soiled flushable material into the toilet without the need to touch it or unwrap it. No known product allows a person to hold a shaver and be able to reach and shave their lower leg. Known products do not allow a person to hold a sponge in order to clean their feet and lower extremities. Also, known products do not allow a person with a physical “ailment” or limitation to be able to reach their bottom with a small personal pad to apply a salve to take care of a rash and then release it and flush it down the toilet.
Additionally there appears to be no valid personal holder device for assisting with daily living activities. Daily living activities, as referred to herein, include not only personal hygiene tasks, but also include additional tasks that must be done as part of living a relatively normal life. This includes such things as grasping and manipulating personal functional tools in order to take care of one's self. For example, daily living tasks include the need to brush teeth, apply makeup, write with a pencil or mark with an ink pen or marker, scratch one's back, eat with utensils, and brush hair.